Man decries axing of historic tree

Published 6:09 pm, Monday, August 31, 2009

BRIDGEPORT -- When Paul T. Barnum woke up one morning last week and looked out his window, he was stunned to see the large oak tree in back of the former Barnum School being cut down.

"They just butchered it. It's one of the saddest days of my life because if I would have known, I could've done something about it," said Barnum, the president of the East Side Neighborhood Revitalization Zone.

The circa-1892 school building on Noble Avenue was purchased by charter school Achievement First Bridgeport in June. For weeks, work crews have been cleaning up the site, replacing the roof and preparing it for the start of the new academic year.

Ken Paul, director of development for the school, said during an audit of the school grounds an arborist discovered that the oak tree, which is about as old as the school building, was diseased.

"We went into it with the notion that we were going to trim the trees. I'm certain that some of the neighborhood may have drawn false conclusions that we're insensitive, non-caring people ... I can assure everyone that is not the case," Paul said.

Warren Jacques, of Long Hill Tree Service, said he diagnosed the tree as having shoestring root rot. "Shoestring rot is what I call a tree man's nightmare. It's difficult to diagnose," he said.

Many trees that suffer from the disease may appear healthy and vibrant, but, "The heartwood of the tree is completely rotted. It leaves the active portion to hold the weight of the entire tree," Jacques said.

The disease may have been caused by the tree's environment, Jacques said. The oak tree sat in the middle of the school parking lot and was surrounded on all sides by asphalt.

"If you look at the tree stump closely, you'll see there's nothing in the middle, nothing but decayed material," Jacques said, adding he was surprised the tree was still standing.

Barnum questioned the diagnosis. "As old as the tree was, I don't doubt it had some problems. Still, I think it was solid," he said.

He then pointed to several smaller trees also cut down on the side of the school.

"Do they look like they have a disease? Why would you want to cut the trees down?" he asked.

Barnum said the city should have stressed the historic importance of the property to the charter school.

"They should have pushed the issue that this is a historic district. You can't go taking things down without notifying anybody," Barnum said. "At least let the people know. They've done this with other trees that were special, and sometimes they've stopped them from doing this."

When asked about the charter school's failure to notify the historic district, Paul said, "I'm not sure that there is any historic requirement as it relates to a diseased tree."

He also said several mature trees would be planted on the property to replace the ones taken down. "The last thing in the world we wanted to do was cut that tree down, but after full examination there wasn't any other choice," Paul added.